Recognizing Cardiovascular Risk in Patients With Lupus Nephritis

Drs. McMahon and Kalunian discuss how patients with lupus nephritis face a markedly higher risk of cardiovascular disease and how traditional risk calculators fail to capture the added danger from chronic inflammation, steroids, and disease-specific factors. They call for a paradigm shift toward aggressive, early, and continuous cardiovascular protection—including tighter blood pressure targets, earlier statin use, lifelong hydroxychloroquine when possible, and close multidisciplinary management from the time of diagnosis.